Xiang Ziying
Compassion and the care for one's fellow is the core of all living things' actions and reactions to the world. To deny such is to deny one's humanity. It is our desire to live in accordance to The Highest Good. Many thinkers believe they know The Highest Good, but only know a fraction of the truth. The ability to find The Good exists within all things, as both the great and the small person know of the good, and thus both can become the Sage. - Xiang Ziying in a memorial for the Governor of Pasgard and later the Imperial Court. To gain victory, one must know the enemy and their customs. To gain victory, one must study the land and the sky. To gain victory, one must study the Will of Heaven. To gain victory, one must be willing to act deceitfully for the greater good. To gain victory, one must know thy heart and the heart of thy soldiers. To gain victory, one must combine intellect with humaneness. '' - Military writings and advice of Xiang for his superiors. One of the Gang of Eight, Xiang Nowzar Shoujen Ziying (style name Shujiao) is one of the most celebrated new generals in the Great Empire and regarded as one of the most brilliant philosophical minds to ever live. While he was born into a life of relative privilege (coming from a Three Generation Political Family), frequent political disputes and conflicts have resulted in his exile at age 19 and has also led to many bureaucratic road blocks against him. This has not been helped by the fact that it is believed that he is secretly part Orestian (a claim he has neither refuted nor denied). After his exile, he rose greatly after being chosen as guardian of Nowzar Katayoun, the sole survivor of the ancient Nowzar family (who had acted as the Xiang Family's patrons), and named de facto head of the Nowzar Clan (finalized upon his adoption of young Katayoun). Since then, he has used his position to argue for numerous government and military reforms, with varying degrees of success. Currently, he is Co-Commander of Lushan Command Centre, alongside General Kurush Javed the Commander of the North and Prince Delusun Nikan of the Ondor Gazar. He has a reputation for being highly respectful and tolerant towards the "barbarian races and tribes" (such as the Ondor Gazar, Mo Gwai, Verbeegs, Firbolgs, and Yaojuren), his compassion towards others, his wily and unpredictable sense of humour and action, as an appreciator of numerous forms of philosophical thought (while still affiliating himself to teachings of Ahurmazd and Achaemenis), and being of the few living generals/tacticians to advocate for the use of deception and trickery to win battles rather than pure strength of arms. Early Life and Exile Xiang was born to a bureaucratic family who had held the ''Jinshi rank for three generations. From an early age, he was raised to be a proper literati official in the court and taught in the ways of philosophy, history, and politics. He looked up greatly to his father and mother as his models and was praised by tutors and friends for being a model of familial fidelity. At 18, he entered to take the Capital Civil Service Examination and passed with high honours, praised by the Emperor himself for his brilliance in thought and eloquence in writing. He was assigned to the serve as a minister in the court, the youngest at the time. While on tour at 19, he got into a debate with Governor Lu Nowzar Bahadur over the nature of human nature and goodness. This debate was immortalized in his Five String Memorial, sent to both the Imperial Court and Nowzar himself, in which he began to formulate his philosophy and ideals. This however proved to be too much. Nowzar took great offence to the egalitarian and meritocratic values espoused by Xiang and sent a request to the Emperor for permission to prosecute Xiang. The Emperor, currently in the middle of one of his many purges, accepted, and Xiang was brought to court on charges of treason. At the trial, witnessed by Jiangwu Bao, Xiang offered a stirring defense of his actions. It was so effective that Nowzar took pity on Xiang and although he still found Xiang guilty, he had him exiled to live amongst the Ondor Gazar for five years. Although Xiang had talked greatly of the equality of all in Dongxi Lu and the need for full rights of citizenship to be given to everyone, even he had his prejudices and internalized fears of the Ondor Gazar. He tearfully said goodbye to his parents and left. Not long after he arrived amongst the Ondor Gazar, he recieved word that his parents had died of plague. Completely alone in a foreign land, with no knowledge of the language or customs, and without a family to return to, Xiang became depressed and despondent, turning heavily to drink. Amongst the Ondor Gazar Xiang's feelings where fortunately brief, as although he carries that sadness to this day, he soon threw himself into studying the language, society, and customs of the Ondor Gazar and came to love them. He adopted their dress and was even given the name Shoujen by them (namely by Cixi and Jabi Shoujen, his adoptive parents) and recieved a reputation for a kind-hearted and quickwitted trickster and helper. While working amongst the Ondor Gazar, he befriended Prince Delusun Nikan and the two began to discuss matters of politics and philosophy. During this time, he also met and fell in love with Cao Rudabeh, a half-Ondor Gazar half-Dongxi Lu academic, and the two were married by the fall. During this time, Xiang also began to more strongly develop his philosophy and beliefs, writing heavily on metaphysics, ethics, daily life, and above all morality and freedom. To him, governments should be by and for the people, not to rule over them. Rulers must be just and benevolent not just for the sake of the Gods, but also for the people. Moreover, the people needed a voice to the government and needed to be able to govern themselves on a daily level. This was because he believed that all people were inherently good and that evil was an absence of good and that the goal of life is to cultivate the good through one's actions and thoughts. Moreover, he argued that thought and actions were inherently linked and could not be divided. He also began to reread and reinterpret the Classics of Dongxi Lu and found that most modern readings where wrong or focused on certain parts that no longer applied to society. Once his five years were up, Xiang and Rudabeh left Buyeo and he bid farewell to his new friends and family and returned to the heartland of Dongxi Lu with open eyes and open hearts. Back in Dongxi Lu and The Nowzar Family Once he returned to the Imperial Capital, he set to work establishing a school for his philosophy and opened it to everyone, regardless of birth or race. This was greatly helped by the patronage of the Nowzar family, who by now had come around to accepting his unorthodox views. During this time, he focused mostly on developing his philosophy and teachings, occasionally publishing a treatise on government and society. Moreover, he also befriended Jiangwu Bao, the great jurist, and joined what would become the Gang of Eight. While she was mostly interested in laws and courts, he took interest in government and education. For two years, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Things took a sudden turn when Lord Nowzar and his wife were found brutally murdered in Duwang, slain by what looked to be Northern assassins (the North has neither confirmed nor denied this), leaving behind a young fourteen year old daughter as their sole heir. In their will, Xiang was declared to be her guardian till she came of age and was to be formally inducted into the Nowzar family as a Cousin. Xiang was forced to leave his academy, giving it to a council of his closest pupils to run, and took up the responsibilities of leading one of the oldest and most powerful families in Dongxi Lu. From this position, he believed he could enact real change. Lushan Command Most recently, Xiang was appointed to serve as co-commander and chief strategist in the critical Lushan Command, the centre of the Northern Armies of Dongxi Lu. Moving his new family north, he estbalished himself as a popular and well-liked officer and took quickly to life as a border commander. He befriended, after much competition, his co-commander General Kurush Javed and proved himself as a skilled and brilliant strategist against rebels, bandits, and Orestian attackers. He began to add strategy to his thought and began to build on the theories of war that had already existed in Dongxi Lu. He also convinced General Javed to welcome more "babrbarian races" into his army and to allow them the same rights and opportunities as other soldiers. Moreover, he began to use his position as a commander to help the citizens of the local populace and used the tools at his disposal to improve their lot and provide protection and justice for them. While he has yet to prove himself on the battlefield of a full scale war, Xiang is regarded as one of the rising stars of the Dongxi Lu army and seems destined for immortality both as a philosopher and as a strategist.